Frequently Asked Questions - What is the Difference Between a Search Engine and a Search Directory?

The primary difference between a search engine and a search directory is how web sites get added to the database. In a search directory, people submit their sites, which are, in turn, reviewed by human editors. If the editor deems that the site is acceptable for inclusion based on a set of criteria, the editor adds it to the directory. Yahoo and Open Directory are examples of search directories.

On the other hand, search engines use spiders [small programs that traverse the Internet looking at web sites] to find sites. The spiders retrieve content from web sites and send it back to the search engine's database. The search engine then analyzes the web page and ranks it according to very sophisticated algorithms, which are closely guarded secrets. AltaVista and Google are examples of search engines.

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